The Rising Age of Retirement and Life Expectancy

For many people retirement is something to look forward to, with it being a new stage to life with no work and endless opportunities.

Our Life Plan has predicted how old individuals will be when they retire up to 29 years into the future. They have looked into the rising age of retirement across 36 OECD countries, revealing that some workers can expect to be 82 when they retire. 

The team has also predicted how long these individuals can expect to live, with life expectancy rising by an average of four years by 2050. 

Retirement ages are expected to continue to rise

Koreans will be nearly 82 when they hit retirement age in 2050

As life expectancy continues to rise across the world, state retirement ages tend to follow the trend and increase. Research reveals that Koreans are expected to be the oldest workers in 2050, with the effective retirement age of the population being nearly 81.84, nearly 82 years of age. 

New Zealanders will be the second oldest members of the OECD when they retire, at 80 years old. The retirement age for Kiwi’s is predicted to increase by 10 years across the 25 years between 2025 and 2050.

Country	Average retirement age 2025	Average retirement age 2030	Average retirement age 2035	Average retirement age 2040	Average retirement age 2045	Average retirement age 2050
Korea	74.43	75.85	77.31	78.79	80.30	81.84
New Zealand	70.80	72.56	74.36	76.20	78.09	80.03
Turkey	69.17	71.00	72.88	74.82	76.82	78.88
Portugal	69.67	71.02	72.40	73.81	75.24	76.70
Israel	68.58	69.47	70.36	71.27	72.19	73.12
Australia	66.70	67.87	69.06	70.28	71.51	72.77
Chile	69.70	70.15	70.60	71.06	71.51	71.98
Estonia	66.35	67.28	68.23	69.19	70.16	71.16
Japan	69.43	69.74	70.06	70.37	70.69	71.02
Sweden	66.73	67.49	68.27	69.05	69.84	70.64

The average age for retirement is decreasing, with Greeks retiring at 57 in 2050

People living in Greece are expected to retire at just 57 years of age in 2050, one of only a few countries where effective retirement ages are set to decrease. Predictions show they will be retiring near the age of 60 in 2025 and this will have reduced to just over 57 in 2050. 

Poland and France come in second and third, when it comes to the lowest predicted average retirement age in 2050 at 61.49 and 61.78 respectively. Individuals living in countries including Spain, Ireland and Mexico can all expect to enjoy retirement before hitting the age of 65 in 2050.

Country	Average retirement age 2025	Average retirement age 2030	Average retirement age 2035	Average retirement age 2040	Average retirement age 2045	Average retirement age 2050
Greece	59.74	59.23	58.72	58.21	57.71	57.21
Poland	60.94	61.05	61.16	61.27	61.38	61.49
France	60.39	60.66	60.94	61.22	61.50	61.78
Luxembourg	60.97	61.40	61.84	62.28	62.72	63.17
Austria	61.22	61.62	62.03	62.45	62.86	63.28
Spain	62.76	62.93	63.10	63.27	63.45	63.62
Ireland	64.22	64.10	63.99	63.88	63.77	63.67
Mexico	68.48	67.70	66.94	66.19	65.45	64.71
Italy	62.28	62.82	63.37	63.92	64.48	65.04
Slovak Republic	61.09	61.87	62.66	63.46	64.28	65.11

Find all the details for the predicted age of retirement below:

Country	Average retirement age 2025	Average retirement age 2030	Average retirement age 2035	Average retirement age 2040	Average retirement age 2045	Average retirement age 2050
Greece	59.74	59.23	58.72	58.21	57.71	57.21
Poland	60.94	61.05	61.16	61.27	61.38	61.49
France	60.39	60.66	60.94	61.22	61.50	61.78
Luxembourg	60.97	61.40	61.84	62.28	62.72	63.17
Austria	61.22	61.62	62.03	62.45	62.86	63.28
Spain	62.76	62.93	63.10	63.27	63.45	63.62
Ireland	64.22	64.10	63.99	63.88	63.77	63.67
Mexico	68.48	67.70	66.94	66.19	65.45	64.71
Italy	62.28	62.82	63.37	63.92	64.48	65.04
Slovak Republic	61.09	61.87	62.66	63.46	64.28	65.11
Switzerland	65.10	65.15	65.20	65.26	65.31	65.36
Czech Republic	62.68	63.26	63.85	64.44	65.04	65.65
Iceland	67.33	67.13	66.94	66.75	66.57	66.38
Denmark	64.08	64.55	65.02	65.50	65.98	66.46
Belgium	61.91	62.81	63.71	64.64	65.57	66.52
Norway	65.09	65.40	65.71	66.02	66.33	66.64
Lithuania	63.77	64.37	64.98	65.60	66.22	66.85
Slovenia	62.90	63.79	64.69	65.61	66.54	67.49
United Kingdom	64.82	65.44	66.08	66.72	67.36	68.01
Germany	64.35	65.18	66.02	66.87	67.74	68.61
Latvia	65.07	65.82	66.58	67.35	68.14	68.93
Finland	64.42	65.35	66.30	67.26	68.23	69.22
United States	66.81	67.37	67.93	68.49	69.06	69.64
Canada	65.64	66.45	67.27	68.10	68.94	69.79
Netherlands	64.99	66.04	67.10	68.18	69.28	70.40
Hungary	63.53	64.86	66.21	67.59	69.00	70.44
Sweden	66.73	67.49	68.27	69.05	69.84	70.64
Japan	69.43	69.74	70.06	70.37	70.69	71.02
Estonia	66.35	67.28	68.23	69.19	70.16	71.16
Chile	69.70	70.15	70.60	71.06	71.51	71.98
Australia	66.70	67.87	69.06	70.28	71.51	72.77
Israel	68.58	69.47	70.36	71.27	72.19	73.12
Portugal	69.67	71.02	72.40	73.81	75.24	76.70
Turkey	69.17	71.00	72.88	74.82	76.82	78.88
New Zealand	70.80	72.56	74.36	76.20	78.09	80.03
Korea	74.43	75.85	77.31	78.79	80.30	81.84

Average life expectancy will have increased by eight years across the OECD by 2050

Women are expected to continue to live longer in comparison to their male counterparts

Koreans are expected to be the oldest individuals in 2045. Trends across the whole of the OECD show that females will consistently live longer than their male counterparts, with Korean females living for over 3 years longer than the men in 2045. 

In just four years time, in 2025, the difference between the life expectancy of males and females in Estonia is predicted to be nearly 8 years, at 7.62 years difference – the largest difference. Females will live for an average of nearly 86 years (85.95) with males living for an average of just over 78 years (78.33).

Country	Female Predicted Life Expectancy 2025	Male Predicted Life Expectancy 2025	Female Predicted Life Expectancy 2035	Male Predicted Life Expectancy 2035	Female Predicted Life Expectancy 2045	Male Predicted Life Expectancy 2045
Korea	88.70	83.07	92.90	88.68	97.02	93.98
Turkey	84.67	78.55	89.80	82.74	95.23	87.17
Estonia	85.95	78.33	90.01	84.28	94.26	90.67
Spain	88.26	83.37	90.51	86.57	92.82	89.90
Portugal	87.03	81.39	89.85	84.86	92.77	88.48
Slovenia	86.75	81.82	89.61	86.03	92.57	90.46
Ireland	86.55	83.50	89.41	87.43	92.38	91.54
Japan	88.67	82.69	90.37	84.77	92.09	86.90
Luxembourg	86.88	83.17	89.33	86.83	91.86	90.65
France	87.60	82.08	89.49	84.88	91.41	87.79

The life expectancy of Mexicans is expected to increase the least, by just 1.71 years in the 25 years between 2025 and 2050

Mexicans will be living for the least amount of time in 2050, with predictions showing their life expectancy will increase by just 1.71 years in the 25 years between 2025 and 2050. In second place, Lithuanians will have a life expectancy of just over 83 years of age. 

Individuals living in countries such as Italy, New Zealand and France are predicted to be living up to the age of 88 in 2050.

For Dennis McNamara, financial planner and co-founder of wHealth Advisors, if life expectancy increases there will be more chances for individuals to prolong their careers. “In terms of actual retirement planning, the clients I work with assume that so long as their health holds up, that they’d like to continue working until 70-80+ years old. Work is a big factor in staying engaged and having purpose in life. Even after ‘retiring’, many in this cohort believe they’ll continue some form of work”, he says.

Country	Average Predicted Life Expectancy 2025	Average Predicted Life Expectancy 2030	Average Predicted Life Expectancy 2035	AveragePredicted Life Expectancy 2040	Average Predicted Life Expectancy 2045	Average Predicted Life Expectancy 2050
Mexico	75.73	76.02	76.30	76.59	76.88	77.16
Lithuania	76.88	78.08	79.30	80.55	81.81	83.09
United States	80.06	80.71	81.36	82.02	82.68	83.35
Slovak Republic	79.14	80.36	81.59	82.85	84.13	85.43
Hungary	78.51	79.92	81.36	82.82	84.31	85.84
Poland	80.12	81.46	82.82	84.21	85.62	87.06
Greece	83.05	83.93	84.82	85.72	86.62	87.54
Latvia	77.96	79.81	81.72	83.67	85.67	87.72
Germany	82.94	83.92	84.92	85.93	86.95	87.98
Czech Republic	81.30	82.62	83.96	85.33	86.71	88.12

Find all the details for the predicted life expectancy below:

Country	Average Life Expectancy 2025	Average Life Expectancy 2030	Average Life Expectancy 2035	Average Life Expectancy 2040	Average Life Expectancy 2045	Average Life Expectancy 2050
Australia	84.68	85.77	86.87	87.99	89.12	90.26
Austria	83.78	84.93	86.09	87.27	88.47	89.68
Belgium	83.47	84.62	85.78	86.96	88.16	89.37
Canada	83.73	84.71	85.71	86.72	87.73	88.77
Chile	82.25	83.46	84.69	85.95	87.21	88.50
Czech Republic	81.30	82.62	83.96	85.33	86.71	88.12
Denmark	83.31	84.67	86.06	87.47	88.90	90.35
Estonia	82.14	84.60	87.14	89.76	92.47	95.26
Finland	83.79	85.04	86.30	87.58	88.88	90.20
France	84.84	86.00	87.19	88.38	89.60	90.83
Germany	82.94	83.92	84.92	85.93	86.95	87.98
Greece	83.05	83.93	84.82	85.72	86.62	87.54
Hungary	78.51	79.92	81.36	82.82	84.31	85.84
Iceland	84.56	85.49	86.43	87.38	88.34	89.31
Ireland	85.02	86.71	88.42	90.17	91.96	93.78
Israel	84.71	85.89	87.10	88.32	89.57	90.82
Italy	85.19	86.32	87.47	88.63	89.81	91.01
Japan	85.68	86.62	87.57	88.53	89.50	90.48
Korea	85.89	88.53	90.79	93.12	95.50	97.95
Latvia	77.96	79.81	81.72	83.67	85.67	87.72
Lithuania	76.88	78.08	79.30	80.55	81.81	83.09
Luxembourg	85.02	86.54	88.08	89.65	91.26	92.89
Mexico	75.73	76.02	76.30	76.59	76.88	77.16
Netherlands	83.89	85.04	86.21	87.39	88.60	89.82
New Zealand	83.91	85.05	86.21	87.39	88.58	89.79
Norway	84.55	85.73	86.92	88.14	89.36	90.61
Poland	80.12	81.46	82.82	84.21	85.62	87.06
Portugal	84.21	85.77	87.36	88.97	90.62	92.30
Slovak Republic	79.14	80.36	81.59	82.85	84.13	85.43
Slovenia	84.28	86.03	87.82	89.65	91.51	93.42
Spain	85.81	87.17	88.54	89.94	91.36	92.80
Sweden	84.04	84.91	85.79	86.69	87.59	88.50
Switzerland	85.62	86.76	87.93	89.11	90.31	91.52
Turkey	81.61	83.91	86.27	88.70	91.20	93.77
United Kingdom	83.42	84.55	85.71	86.88	88.06	89.27
United States	80.06	80.71	81.36	82.02	82.68	83.35

Methodology

Based on the data sources provided by the OECD, the effective age of retirement was used. When calculating the prediction, estimates were based on calculated exponential growth for both men and women. Averages were then calculated based on these predictions.

Sources

https://www.oecd.org/employment/emp/average-effective-age-of-retirement.htm

https://data.oecd.org/healthstat/life-expectancy-at-birth.htm

Our Most Popualr Guides

• Top 11 Online Will Writing Services UK Cost Comparison
• Top 100 Free Charity Will Writing Services
• Guide to UK UK Mortgages
• Top 13 Over 50s Life Insurance UK Comparison With Free Gift
• Top 10 Whole Life Insurance Providers Offering Cash Value
• Top 15 Income Protection Insurance Policies